Alleged Gunman Is Shot and Killed by Sheriff’s Deputies : Violence: The incident, in Paramount, is the third shooting by law officers in three days. A teen-ager in Long Beach and a man in Boyle Heights were wounded earlier.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday fatally shot a man allegedly wielding a shotgun in Paramount, the third time law enforcement officers have hit a suspect with gunfire in the last three days, officials said.
On Wednesday, a 16-year-old reputed gang member was critically wounded by Long Beach police who said he pointed a semiautomatic assault weapon at them after they warned him he was violating city curfew laws.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles police seriously wounded a 28-year-old Pico Rivera man who allegedly threatened an officer with a hunting knife after being pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving.
Thursday’s shooting in Paramount, which brought to 21 the number of people killed by deputies so far this year, followed an early morning fracas between two men at a home in the 7200 block of Motz Street.
One man, whose name was not released and who ultimately was shot by police, allegedly forced his way into the house about 8 a.m. and stabbed the other man in the eye, Deputy John Ashley said. The stabbing victim, who also was not identified, then armed himself with a shotgun.
After a struggle, the first man snatched the gun away and the stabbing victim ran from the house. The first man caught up with him at an abutting house in the 7200 block of Marcelle Street, where the stabbing victim had sought help for his wound. The first man allegedly fired the shotgun into the house while paramedics were administering first aid, but no one was injured, Ashley said.
Deputies, who arrived while the alleged gunman was still on the porch, “ordered the man to drop the shotgun, repeatedly,” Ashley said. “The suspect continued to turn toward deputies. As the shotgun was pointed toward them, deputies fired multiple rounds.”
The alleged gunman was taken to Long Beach Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The stabbing victim was reported in stable condition, officials said.
About 11 p.m. Wednesday, two officers from a special Crime Suppression Task Force in Long Beach spotted a suspected gang member in a neighborhood they were targeting because of high crime.
The officers, Richard Rocchi, 25, a four-year veteran, and Steve Buchheim, 29, a five-year veteran, warned the 16-year-old to go home because he was breaking the city’s curfew law, police said.
The officers then hid behind a tree near Caspian Avenue and Summit Street, where they saw the teen-ager lift his shirt and expose what police say was a semiautomatic assault weapon, according to Detective Roy Hamand.
When the officers ordered him to stop, the suspect, identified by friends as Daniel Olivas, fled. As he ran, Olivas pulled the weapon and pointed it at the officers over his shoulder as in a “cowboy movie,” Hamand said. He said Rocchi then fired two shots, one of which struck the youth in the lower back.
Olivas underwent emergency surgery and was listed in fair condition Thursday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, officials said.
On Tuesday about 5:15 p.m., Los Angeles Police Officer Peter Whipple pulled over a Dodge pickup truck traveling erratically near the corner of 6th and Breed streets in Boyle Heights.
Whipple, 34, a 10-year veteran, ordered the driver to step out of the street and onto the curb, but the man became belligerent and struck the officer with his fist, said Lt. William Hall. Whipple pushed the man back with his baton and called for assistance on his radio, but the driver--identified as Lupe Gonzales--approached with a hunting knife, Hall said.
“Officer Whipple backed away from him and repeatedly ordered the suspect to drop the knife,” said Hall, adding that Gonzales came within about two feet of the officer. “Officer Whipple, in fear of his safety, fired one shot.”
Gonzales, who was hit once in the torso, was listed in satisfactory condition Thursday at County-USC Medical Center.
Times staff writer Roxana Kopetman contributed to this story.
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